drinking water in china

[ocpaul20]

Hi all,

What are the general thoughts about drinking water in china?

I have done a search and I cannot find a thread on this subject, so it might be useful to have one for others in the future.

Thanks,

paul

[PollyWaffle]

i'm too scared to drink it!!

even if you boil water, it doesn't remove chemicals or heavy metals (i assume this is correct?) & still has a somewhat strange taste, me thinks...

there is no longer a water table between beijing & tianjin... water is a big problem in china, among many... as usual, the going attitude is progress now, worry later... you can't blame the govt for thinking this way as most other nations continue in this fashion despite eco-rhetoric... doesn't make it right tho...

[roddy]

I think it's allegedly safe to drink in the major cities at least - I know Shanghai claims so anyway, as it was in the Guardian recently, so it must be true.

However, you very rarely see anyone drinking it without boiling it. Even if its safe to drink, it doesn't taste great.

Roddy

[geraldc]

When I was in China, my local gym had a little plastic hot water dispenser, so when you were tired from your work out you could have a refreshing jam jar of boiling water. It was that, or drink a can of jian li bao (can you still get jian li bao? I haven't seen it in ages)

If I wanted tea or coffee I'd boil water, on the rare occasions I wanted cold water, I'd buy a bottle of still. Made life a lot easier. One thing I did a lot of in China was forgetting I'd left the kettle on the gas. I think I burnt through 2 or 3 kettles in my time there.

On the occassions when tap water is non-potable, is it still ok to use it to rinse out your mouth when you brush your teeth?

[skylee]

One thing I did a lot of in China was forgetting I'd left the kettle on the gas. I think I burnt through 2 or 3 kettles in my time there.

This happened to me a few times. Really scary. So I now use an automatic electric kettle. It is fast, clean and safe.

[Quest]

even if you boil water, it doesn't remove chemicals or heavy metals (i assume this is correct?) & still has a somewhat strange taste, me thinks...

What we used to do was that we boiled the water in a kettle and poured it into some kind of container. The water would sit there for a night, so it would (hopefully) cool down and distill. Then we only drank the top portion, and always discarded the "few" drops that left behind in the pot.

Most people had that practice in Guangzhou. Now they all use electrical heating/cooling water dispensers you often see in an office, and have people deliver those huge water bottles every month.

[aline]

I don't know about water in houses in Shanghai but in my university, the water in our rooms has a slight yellowish tinge to it. You don't really notice it unless you put some water from the tap in a glass ( the clear type) and then place a piece of white paper under it. Here, no one dares to drink the water, not even after boiling it.

However, it's that same water which i'm using when i shower or wash my hair so i'm a bit worried. Is it harmful to the skin?

My Bulgarian friend told me that his hair color has turned lighter here and thinks that it's because of the water used when washing his hair.

Another friend made a joke (at least,i hope it was a joke!) about how using this water when brushing our teeth can turn teeth yellow.

[Catdiseased]

the yellow water problem in the dorms is a thing that I also experienced when I was at BLCU. I think it is a thing about the pipes, maybe stain or something. that wouldn't be too nice to drink, but I guess using it for other reasons won't be too "dangerous"

[ocpaul20]

so.... what does everyone drink if they dont drink water????

water is in everything from washed vegetables to the stock for soup to fizzy drinks. Most people are dehydrated anyway and some say that if you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

I am planning a year-long trip to china and this is one of my biggest worries.

Thanks

Paul

[PollyWaffle]

the water in our rooms has a slight yellowish tinge to it

yeah fully!!!!& it goes even more yellow if you bottle it & refrigerate it... i used to add coffee to overpower the 'yellow taste'... i think it's rust, for some reason they don't use copper piping here...

so.... what does everyone drink if they dont drink water????

i drink nestle water from a water dispenser of the kind Quest mentioned... it's cheap, tastes good, & boils water for coffee too...

[aline]

so.... what does everyone drink if they dont drink water????

I drink water but not water from the tap. I wouldn't feel safe drinking that water even after boiling.

I drink water from those "electrical heating/cooling water dispensers" Quest mentioned. ( I didn't know how to call them in English )

I bought a small water dispenser at 49 kuai and I phone to have the big water bottles (RMB 7 for each bottle of water) delivered when I have used up all the water. I dimly remember having to pay an additional amount for the bottle itself but it's only a one-time payment.

Almost everyone in the International Students Building has bought that water dispenser.

The water tastes normal and is perfectly clear.

You can also buy imported bottles of mineral water in supermarkets but it will be expensive. I think they have Evian here and others. I didn't pay much attention to the names.

[lylestyle]

dude, if I were you I wouldn't worry about it. As they say, "man man jiu xi guan le!" I live in Beijing, and all the water i drink it boiled water, and I've never had a problem. The first few days my stomach felt a little upset, but I was fine after that. I friends who drink straight from the tap and they seem to be fine. Don't worry about it!

[geraldc]

so.... what does everyone drink if they dont drink water????

If you're thirsty drink tea. With meals you drink tea and/or soup, and in the north they seem to drink a lot of beer with meals too.

You can get most international soft drinks, but diet coke isn't that widely seen. They have cold tea in bottles like Japan, only they fill it full of sugar.

[Quest]

As long as you boil it, it should be okay, or people would have all died in China, they don't get sick or anything from drinking the water. I think the water is quite safe and clean at least in the big cities, certainly clearer than the water in new york.

[Claw]

I think the water is quite safe and clean at least in the big cities, certainly clearer than the water in new york.

Have you actually drank water in New York? The New York water supply is actually one of the cleanest water supplies in the United States because of the abundance of natural watersheds in upstate New York. In fact, it is clean enough that the water doesn't even need to go through filtration.

New York does have other pollution problems, but people seem to automatically associate them with water even though it's unwarranted. I've been to other places in the country and still prefer New York water over all else.

Anyway, I digress... but I couldn't let a jab at my home state go unchallenged.

[roddy]

Best thing about the water dispensers is the constant source of hot / chilled water, without having to worry about kettles and fridges. Even if I was drinking tap water I’d just fill up one of the big bottles and stick it on a dispenser.

After years of not drinking tap water, I have to admit I regard the stuff almost with suspicion – even when I go home, where the tap water is crystal clear (except when it has bits of peat floating in it) it takes me a few days to get used to the fact that I can drink the stuff right from the tap. After a few days I realize I’m not going to get cholera or anything and start glugging the stuff down in pints.

[bhchao]

The New York water supply is actually one of the cleanest water supplies in the United States because of the abundance of natural watersheds in upstate New York.

90% of the water used by New York City residents comes from the Catskill/Delaware watershed. So I would assume that water is clean.

[wushijiao]

The thing that I am the most worried about is the hard minerals in water. Even in the US, almost a third of the nation's water isn't safe to drink because of high minerals. As far as I know (correct me if wrong), mercury is a by-product of burning coal, which China does at roughly eight times more than the US. In short, I eat fish maybe once a month or so and only drink bottled water, not that there are any guarentees that that is much safer. I think I'm a bit paranid about pollution issues.

Anyway, just in case anyone else is also paranoid about toxic minerals that damage your nervous system, I've read that the anti-oxidants in apples can carry about some of the toxic minerals in your system and ship 'em on out along with the rest of your fiber.

[Yuchi]

Well I had this bottle of water that tasted normal, but gave off a weak scent of gasoline.

That was 1 out of the 20-25 bottle of waters I consumed.

I only ever had water from the tap when we had tea, but that was boiled.

[Guest wang li]

When I lived in Beijijng (left in October, '04), I used to boil the water and drink it also. Used it to brush my teeth straight from the spigot. What I found through experience, though, was that it was necessary to have some kind of filter on my faucet. If you don't, you'll get sediment and tiny pebbles in your water. The reason, I presume, is that they are always working on the water system, upgrading, replacing pipes or whatever.

You probably can still buy those little plaster filters with a sieve at a LiKeLong or similar place for six or seven RMB.